Jaguar Success Moulded from Team Evolution

Panasonic Jaguar Racing evolved into a race-winning proposition because it largely utilized its own personnel structure, according to a key member of its team.

Gary Ekerold, who was instrumental in forming the entry back in 2015, believes that a combination of building a solid base team and then evolving it with key appointments for its second and third seasons has paid dividends.

Mitch Evans scored the team’s first ever Formula E win last weekend in Rome, bringing Jaguar its first international racing success since the 1991 World Sportscar Championship race at the Nürburgring.

Ekerold initially managed the Williams Advanced Engineering supply of batteries in Formula E before becoming the sporting manager for the Jaguar team when it was founded ahead of the 2016-17 season.

“The process has been in place and I think this program differs from any other program,” said Ekerold.

“This is because we joined in Season Three and we didn’t necessarily have access to what I would classify as immediately Formula E-qualified people in a sense that we didn’t want to come here and raid the paddock, so we chose people who we identified as having talent and were starting to gain experience in Formula E.

“There would be a natural period of evolution through experience, through people working together and it has possibly taken a little bit longer than we would have liked to deliver results.

“But at the same time we knew that the people we had on board were talented and they just needed to gain experience.”

Ekerold suggested that recent changes have also helped improve the focus and atmosphere of the team as it gears up for the second half of a crucial season.

“When you put people in place that you believe are capable of delivering it and then, you just keep at it then you get the results,” Ekerold told e-racing365.

“Yes, we’ve made some changes coming to this weekend and Alex [Lynn] is providing a chin-up exercise for the whole team, so lots of positives are there already.”

Ekerold also praised Evans, who has been part of the program since he tested for the team at Donington Park in September 2016.

“Mitch has been a class act and his potential is massive, that is why we have invested in him throughout the team,” he said.

“He’s just a top drawer racer and a very hungry one which is exactly what you need.”

Sam Smith is e-racing365's Formula E Editor. A 20-year veteran in motorsports media, including press officer roles in both the FIA Sportscar Championship and at Lola Group, Smith is a well-known face in the Formula E paddock, where he served as series editor for Motorsport.com from 2014-17. Contact Sam